Why are relationships so complicated? Why do our deepest desires sometimes feel impossible to satisfy? The answer might surprise you: God designed you this way on purpose.
In this profound exploration of Song of Solomon 3:1-5, we dive into what appears to be a young woman's midnight dream of searching city streets for her beloved. But beneath this passionate pursuit lies a universal truth about human longing that resonates across centuries.
God isn't surprised by your desires—He created them. Looking back to Genesis, we discover that longing predates sin. When God declared "it is not good for man to be alone," He first created the desire in Adam, then deliberately extended that longing by having him name all animals before bringing him Eve. Adam's response? "At last!"—the cry of a longing fulfilled.
Whether you're seeking love, purpose, belonging, or security, these desires reflect Eden's echo in your soul. The problem isn't the longing itself but where we look for satisfaction. We pursue relationships, career success, social approval, or material comfort, yet remain unsatisfied because these things were never designed to fill the God-shaped void within us.
Even Jesus experiences longing. He eagerly desired to share the Passover with his disciples and prays for believers to join him in eternity. In Revelation, he stands at the door of our hearts, knocking—not just to accomplish salvation but because he longs for relationship with us.
What will you do with your longings? Rather than resenting them, mature believers thank God for desires that continually point us back to the only One who truly satisfies. Your longings aren't mistakes—they're invitations to discover that Christ alone offers what your heart most deeply desires.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Please turn in your Bibles to Song of Solomon,
chapter 3, 1 through 5, which ison page 561 in the Pew Bible,
and follow along as I read God'sWord On my bed at night.
I sought Him who my soul loves.
(00:20):
I sought Him, but found Him not.
I will rise now and go aboutthe city.
In the streets and in thesquares I will seek him, whom my
soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
The watchmen found me as theywent about in the city.
Have you seen him, whom my soulloves?
(00:41):
Scarcely had I passed them.
When I found him, whom my soulloves, I held him and would not
let him go until I had broughthim into my mother's house and
into the chamber of her whoconceived me.
I adjure you, o daughters ofJerusalem, by the gazelles or
the does of the field, that younot stir up or awaken love until
(01:05):
it pleases.
This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Amen, thanks, natalie .
All right, I've been trying togive you what I've called squirm
warnings every Sunday that wehave been in Song of Solomon.
This is a solid three out offive.
Okay, this is, by the way.
Next week is a four or a fiveout of five.
So if you've been wonderingwhen are we going to get there,
(01:29):
next week and the following weekwould be probably the weeks
that you are leaning into, andso, just so you know, I want to
make sure everybody's in theloop on that.
I also want to tell the folkswho are in the back if you are
hot because it is hot outside Iknow when you come in it's hard
to see there is like an entireopen pew here.
(01:50):
If you want to brave it, acouple of seats here there, and
then John will scoot over forone or two more, and so if you
are too hot, just know.
Yeah, way to go.
They're either leaving ormoving.
I can't tell Robbie's taking it.
All right, good stuff.
Hey, I want what's good.
I can't hear you.
(02:12):
Oh, so go longer.
All right, here we go.
I got you.
I got you.
All right, oh, okay.
Yeah, if it rains, you guysneed to bring your chairs and
bring your chairs in.
That's no problem at all.
What else, stokes, hey Stokes,make your announcement.
Carry on, here we go.
Song of songs.
(02:33):
All right, squirrel morning.
Three out of five.
Next week will probably be afour out of five.
And here's what I want you guysto know as we kind of parachute
into this the scripture that wasjust read to us.
I want you to realize there arefour scenes in this and as we
look at these four little scenes, there are a couple of
(02:53):
questions that I want you to ask.
These would be the questionsthat I would have you ask when
we read this, even though it'sin the Bible.
Is this love that we're readingabout being pursued biblically?
Is it wise?
Is it pure?
Is this the kind of love thatyou would want for your sons or
(03:15):
daughters?
Is this the kind of love thatGod wants for you?
Now, you may be saying well,this is the Bible.
Of course it is all of thosethings.
The story of David andBathsheba is also in the Bible.
So don't forget, just becauseit's in the Bible doesn't mean
God's advocating it.
He is teaching you somethingthrough it.
Now, when I look at this text, Iwould respond very differently
(03:38):
if it was my daughter who wassaying this, compared to if it
was my son.
My son came to me last nightvery late in the night.
He said hey, I wanna go hangout with a buddy.
He's 16, he's got a license.
I remember that.
So I was like, just give me a30 second download of what
you're gonna do.
He did I said may the Lord bewith you, my son, and off he
went.
If my daughter even at 16, cameto me and said that I would
(04:04):
throw a flag, I'd be like wheredo you think you're going, young
lady?
Uh-huh, and who are you goingto be with?
What time are you going?
There's just somethingdifferent about daughters.
The reason I say that is I wantyou to imagine for a moment if
you're in the room and you havehad children.
You are of parent age.
I want you to imagine this isone of your kids, sharing with
(04:26):
you what's going on in theirhearts and in their minds.
If you're a kid, I want you toimagine sharing this with your
parent.
And here's how we're going todo it Everybody, take out your
hand.
You don't need to hold it uphigh.
I'm not like shooting forconversions in this moment.
I just want it to be highenough so that the person next
to you can see what's going onon your hand.
I'm going to read this line andI want you to give it a one, two
(04:48):
, three, four or five.
It's a five if, when I readthis line, you would say, oh man
, this is biblical.
Hey, turn me up so I don't feellike I'm competing.
Are you trying to?
Okay, can y'all hear me in theback?
Do I need to sweat it?
Okay, good, all right, You'regoing to have a five.
(05:10):
If you feel like these thingsare happening, you're going to
put a one.
If you're like I do not thinkthis is good or healthy in a
biblical relationship, all right, here you go.
Verse, I love this.
By the way, these are myabsolute favorite Sundays.
Weird Sundays are my favoriteSundays.
You want to know why?
You're not going to forget it.
All right, I love this.
All right.
So here we go.
Verse number one.
She's unmarried, by the way,and here's what she says On my
(05:33):
bed by night, I sought him wholoves me.
All right, what do you think?
Is this super biblical Five?
Super not biblical One?
Just go ahead, put a number up.
Let me see where you're at.
Let me see where you're at.
Okay, then it's loud and proudon his one.
Okay, how about this?
A young lady says I will risenow and go about the city.
(05:57):
What time of day is it?
It's nighttime.
I'm going to go into thestreets and into the squares.
I'm going to seek him who mysoul loves.
One to five Is this what youwant?
Okay, lots of ones.
You guys are not a very greatpeople.
You're ones and fives, kind ofacross the board.
Where are my two, three, fourpeople?
(06:18):
All right, how about this?
The watchman found me.
These would be like the police.
Theman found me.
These would be like the police.
The police found me as theywent about the city.
And now she's asking thesestrangers, have you seen him
whom my soul loves?
Scarcely had I gotten past them.
When I found him, whom my soulloves, I held him.
I wouldn't let him go.
(06:39):
Just wait it gets better untilI brought him to my mother's
house and into the chamber thatmeans bedroom of the one who
conceived me.
Let me see your numbers.
Is anybody higher than a two?
Okay, now, explain to me this,the very next line.
(07:00):
I adjure you, o daughters ofJerusalem, I encourage you by
the gazelles or does of thefield symbols of love, that you
not stir up or awaken love untilit pleases, until the time is
right, what are you going togive that one?
Okay, how on earth, how onearth can we look at this young
(07:24):
woman who is basically sayinglet me put this sort of in
English it was nighttime.
I couldn't stop thinking aboutmy man.
He wasn't there with me andwe're not married yet, which is
why he wasn't with me.
So here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to go out in themiddle of the night.
I'm going to walk through thedowntown area looking for my guy
(07:44):
.
I'm going to ask anybody I findif they've seen him, and as
soon as I see him, I'm gettingmy claws in him.
I'm taking him home, we'regoing into my mother's bedroom
and that is how we are going tocall it a night, can I?
By the way, if you haven'tpicked up on this, this is not
prescribing what it is to pursuethe Lord biblically.
(08:05):
Can we all agree?
There's a piece of us that'slike that's not my advice to my
daughter, can we agree?
But somehow she ends it bysaying hey, guys, ladies, best
friends, don't wake up romanticlove until it's too soon.
How Well I hid something fromyou when I read this, and some
(08:26):
of you may have been reading inyour text and you may have
noticed it.
I wasn't just putting she there,so you know it was her.
I didn't want you to realizethat she's probably dreaming.
Now there are two places in theSong of Solomon where we see
something like this On my bed bynight I sought, and we see
something very similar in Songof Songs 5 when she says I slept
(08:50):
but my heart was awake.
I can't think of a better OldTestament way to say I'm
dreaming, I'm asleep, but myheart, my mind, are still
actively pursuing something.
This is how she can explain100% and the Bible can capture
all of her longing.
(09:11):
And it can end by saying guys,we want to do this right Now.
I'm not going to ask forstories and I'm not going to ask
for volunteers, but I will justtell you, as a guy who started
dating his wife when I was 17and married her when she was 23,
.
There were a lot of nights likethis, and you can get squirmy or
(09:35):
cringy in church if you want to.
I'm just explaining to you thehuman condition that I know is
true of all of us, and that isthat this stage in their
romantic love, there may bethings that they physically
cannot pursue, that their mindsare longing for.
That.
The desires, the good godlydesires that God has placed in
(09:58):
every man and every woman.
These desires exist, even if weare trying so hard to figure
out.
What can I do with thesedesires and glorify God?
How can I do this?
Let me tell you why I think thisis a dream.
I think there are a number ofreasons, but one of the reasons
(10:22):
is, just like the Bible invitedus a week or so ago to their
midday lunch, where she joinedhim at work, I think this is the
Bible saying hey, your dreamsmatter.
God knows what they are, heuses them.
I don't know that he uses allof them.
I was telling the group beforewe got ready for church today.
My dream last night.
(10:43):
My dream last night was BradEvangelista and I were trying to
find vanilla ice cream withcolored sprinkles when a
helicopter flew over and startedshooting hypodermic needles at
us to put us to sleep.
I don't know If the Lord hassomething going on in that.
I'm going to need an awful lotof clarity.
Okay, somebody.
Somebody told me I was desiringretirement and to rest.
(11:04):
That's what I was like.
That's actually pretty good.
That's not bad.
I feel like I got at leastthree more weeks in me, all
right.
When we look at this, there area number of reasons.
I think we can say this is adream.
Number one this young lady hasbeen exceedingly careful where
she goes.
She wanted to join him at worka week ago but she said I need
(11:25):
to know where you're going to be.
I want to dress appropriately.
I don't want to put out anysignals to any other men that
I'm available because I am yoursand I am yours alone.
She's been exceedingly carefulfor her all of a sudden to say
nah, I'm just going to whoa, Idon't know what just happened.
Time out, don't read mypersonal notes.
There you go.
Oh, I don't know what justhappened.
Time out, don't read mypersonal notes.
There you go.
(11:46):
I'm going to go about in thecity, or in verse 5, it even
gets worse.
He shows up.
I slept, but my heart was awake.
She's in bed.
A sound, a sound.
My beloved is knocking.
He shows up at the door.
Open to me.
My sister, my love, my dove, myperfect one.
(12:07):
Open the door.
I want to come in, I want tospend time with you.
Here is what she begins thinkingin verse three.
I'd put off my garment howcould I put it on?
She's got on her bedclothes, iswhat she say.
It goes on I'd bathe my feethow could I soil them?
Now, we don't think about lifethis way, but if you lived in an
(12:27):
Old Testament time and youfinally got your feet clean and
you got in bed, you did not wantto get up and walk through the
area, which was incrediblydisgusting and then get right
back in your bed.
So a couple of things could behappening.
She could be teasing him.
She could be saying oh, I'vejust put on my nightie, I can't
(12:48):
possibly come to the door.
Or she could be saying I justtook my bath.
It'll be a while before I canget there.
I don't want to get my feetdirty.
They're so clean right now.
Maybe she's teasing him ormaybe she's just legit tired.
She's like why did you come solate?
Right, like?
I've been here the whole time.
Where were you, my beloved?
Put his hand to the latch, thedoor stops knocking and she
(13:12):
hears the doorknob shake and herheart is thrilled within her.
So, whether she was teasing ornot, now she's starting to get
warmed up to the concept of hereis my guy.
So she gets up.
I arose to open the door to mybeloved.
My hands, though, were wet.
They were dripping withsomething.
So when she reaches the bolt,she can't get the door to open.
(13:34):
This feels like a dream.
It feels even more like a dreambecause when she finally opens
the door, the dude's gone.
All right, can I just tell you,if young ladies coming to the
door, you're not like I gotPlayStation time with the guys
Gone.
It's not how it works in therealm of humanity.
The guy is gone, it says hersoul fails.
She seeks him, but she can'tfind him.
(13:56):
She calls him, but he gives noanswer.
He was there one second ago.
She gets the door open and he'sgone.
This feels much more like adream.
The watchman found me, but thistime the cops aren't kind.
It says.
They beat me, they bruised me,they took away my veil, but
(14:16):
nowhere in this text does Goddeal with them, nowhere in this
text does her beloved deal withthem.
It feels like a dream that tooka hard right turn into
nightmare land, but she ends itthe same way.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I've gotsomething to teach you.
As she wakes up in the middleof the night realizing all of
(14:39):
these longings that she haswithin her, she still reminds
herself there's something for usto learn here, and in this case
, she reminds herself there'sonly one guy.
For her, this seems like a pairof dreams, one of the things I
think the Bible makes very clearfor us.
Parents, please listen up.
(15:00):
Even if you have been marriedfor a long time, romantic
relationships are complicated.
Amen, okay.
Romantic relationships arecomplicated.
They're complicated if you're abeliever.
They're complicated if you'renot a believer.
They're complicated if one ofyou happens to be a believer and
the other one does not.
They're complicated when you're10 years old, trying to figure
(15:22):
out who you're going to giveyour valentine to, and they're
complicated when you're 28 yearsold.
Romantic relationships arecomplicated, and the Bible knows
that there are no mistakes inthis.
So let me invite you into aquestion for the word why.
Why are romantic relationshipsso hard?
Why are they so difficult?
Why are the nuances so hard tofigure out?
(15:45):
Why can I learn so much aboutso much in this world?
But when it comes tounderstanding my wife, who I've
spent 26 years with.
At this point, I'm stillscratching my head half the time
why.
There is something tucked intothe human condition that God put
there and he left there onpurpose, and that thing that he
(16:05):
put and that thing that he leftis longing, and this is what the
scriptures want you to see.
It doesn't matter to me if youare single or married, if you
are content or discontent.
There is one thing that I knowis true of everybody in this
room you are longing forsomething and you want to tell
(16:26):
yourself that you're longing forJesus.
But if you're honest withyourself, jesus is not the only
thing that you are longing for,and you have to remind yourself
time and time again.
Heart, mind, soul, these thingsand thoughts that run through
my head.
I adjure you, o daughters ofJerusalem, go after the right
thing, go after it at the righttime, go after the right person,
(16:48):
put things in the proper order,because I have a heart that
won't stop longing.
God's word wants you to seethis.
God's word wants you to feel.
This Longing is something theBible knows is true of you,
(17:08):
because God created theselongings.
Now I want you guys to chase mefor one moment down a rabbit
hole.
It's just going to take asecond, but I think it's worth
it, and it's going to teach yousomething for the rest of your
life if you pursue Christ, ifyou're not pursuing Christ, I
think this is going to be anannoying little question.
That sort of scratches at theback of your mind.
(17:30):
Not only did God create theselongings, god created you too
long.
Now, before I go any furtherwith this, I want you to
actually answer this question.
You don't have to answer it outloud, but I want you to.
I almost cut out little slipsof paper and put them everywhere
, but I just ran out of time,too busy praying, you know
(17:50):
pastors, all right, so I wantyou to actually answer this
question.
What are you longing for today?
You do not need to have animpressive answer.
You might just be longing foran afternoon that's calm.
You might just be longing foryour roof not to be leaking
right now and you're like, oh,we've had issues.
(18:10):
You might be longing for somelevel of security.
Maybe you are longing for aromantic relationship.
Maybe you're in a relationshipthat used to be romantic and it
feels like that's long gone andyou're longing for it again.
What are you longing for today.
You will serve yourself if youanswer this.
Before we go any further, let meshow you something amazing, and
I need to give a little bit ofa trigger warning to my wife,
(18:31):
trigger warning.
When you and I got married, youwere not happy with the
ceremony.
Okay, you were not happy withthe ceremony because the pastor
went way too long and because heall of a sudden just started
talking about animals out of theblue.
We've talked about this for thepast 20 years.
Okay, hey, I'm going to try tofix it today.
(18:52):
I don't know that I can.
I'm going to try.
God created you to long.
Chase me down this rabbit hole.
When God created all things,this is before sin enters the
world.
Here is what we read the Lord,god, said it is not good that
the man should be alone.
That sentence, that littlephrase, is nuts Good, good, good
(19:13):
, good, good, good, good.
Everything in all creation.
He looks at Adam.
He says it's not good, it's notgood that you would be alone.
So I'm going to make a helperfit for him.
And everybody at the end of 18is saying awesome, god's going
to make woman.
This is going to be incredible.
Could you imagine the worldwithout them.
No, it'd be a hot mess, allright.
So here God is.
(19:34):
He's about to create woman, andAdam's heart is longing for it,
so much so that God knows it.
Now, watch what happens nextfor it.
So much so that God knows it.
Now, watch what happens next.
I'm going to make a helper fitfor him Now, out of the ground.
The Lord God had formed everybeast of the field, every, every
(19:54):
bird of the heavens, and hebrought them to the man to see
what he would call him.
Hey, uh, moses, when you puttogether the book of Moses, you
made just one quick mistake.
If you could just move 19through 20 somewhere else, the
rest of it will make sense.
Remember, adam wanted something.
So can we just get to verse 21?
So the Lord God calls a deepsleep to fall upon the man.
(20:15):
No, why does the Bible put itthis way?
Adam sees every beast of thefield.
He sees every bird of theheavens.
They're brought to him.
He has to name them.
Verse 20, the man gave names toall the livestock, to all the
birds, to every beast of thefield.
But the reason this wholelittle paragraph exists is
(20:38):
because of that word.
But God is saying I created alonging inside of him.
I created a longing inside ofyou.
Don't miss this.
Give me your eyes for a minute.
And then I made his longinglonger.
I could have immediately givenhim what he desired, but I
(20:58):
wanted him to see all of thethings that were not going to
satisfy him.
That's why 19 and 20 are there.
That's why I think he startedtalking about every animal,
because the very next thing thathappens is it says Adam
couldn't find anything suitable.
Verse 21.
So, after giving him a longingand elongating his longing for
(21:23):
something good, the Lord, god,caused a deep sleep to fall upon
the man he literally dreams, asGod makes him the woman of his
dreams, who, one chapter later,will usher in an entire
nightmare for all of humanity.
Not in my notes.
Quick little note the girl ofyour dreams will also wreck your
life, all right, the man ofyour dreams will also wreck your
(21:43):
life.
All right, the man of yourdreams will also wreck your life
because they were never meantto fulfill the entire longing.
Keep watching.
Verse 22,.
The rib the Lord took from theman, he made into a woman and he
brought her to the man.
Then the man said I know nobodylikes to be wrong in church.
Does anybody know what Adamsays when he finally sees Eve,
(22:04):
which God brings down?
You got to talk loud.
I shall call her woman.
Are you reading your Bibleright now, thomas?
Okay, say it.
Here's what he says.
Finally, finally, I've lookedacross all of creation and there
was nothing to satisfy mylonging.
(22:26):
Now, why am I asking you tochase a rabbit with me through
Genesis, chapter two?
Because I want you to have atheology of longing.
And the reason I want you tohave a theology of longing is
because it's not going anywhere.
When I finally started datingthe girl that TBS told me was
going to satisfy my life, thatFerris Bueller convinced me was
(22:48):
going to make everything fine.
As soon as that happened, doyou know what happened?
Another longing stepped rightin, and then another, and then
another, and that has been thepast 26 years of my life with my
wife.
Now you may be completelydifferent than me.
You may be far more godly andfar more holy, but I will tell
(23:09):
you this is something that Ineeded when I was eight years
old, 18 years old, 48 years oldand beyond.
God creates longings.
Whatever you wrote downsomewhere, you may have even
been honest enough to write downsomething sinful.
But underneath it, behind itand around it, there is this
thing that God created you todesire.
(23:31):
That is good, and it is notgood for you to not have it.
But Just as Adam has to watchthis entire parade of animals,
god also stretches the time oflonging.
It is not good for you to getwhat you want too quickly.
It is good for you to realizethat there is a God who knows
(23:51):
what you want, walks with youwhen you do not have what you
want, and then ultimatelyfulfills the longing.
So what are you longing for Now?
Look, I just picked fourcategories that are pretty
common across all of humanity.
My guess is, 90% of the stuffyou wrote down is going to fit
(24:12):
under one of those fourcategories, but I don't know
which one it is.
If you're looking for love andintimacy, great.
You want to be known.
You want to be desired, youwant to be cherished and
accepted.
That is good.
But if you don't recognize thatGod stretches and gives you
these longings, you're going totend to go towards casual sex.
(24:35):
You're going to lean towardspornography.
You're going to get in arelationship that is codependent
.
That's more on you taking thanis on you giving.
You're going to need constantaffirmation all the time if you
don't understand a theology oflonging.
But if you do, then what youwill realize is that Christ
offers a love that issacrificial and enduring and
(24:59):
unconditional and will outlastanyone that you will find.
The question is, when it comesto this, what are you looking
for?
Maybe yours is more aboutpurpose and meaning.
You want to have this drive todo something that matters,
something that's bigger thanyourself.
Of course you do.
God is a creator.
(25:20):
He made you in his image as onewho makes things and builds
things that last and that dothings.
But if you don't understandthis, you're going to just have
a huge pursuit of a career.
You're going to be obsessedwith success.
You're going to live forachievement or live for comfort,
to convince yourself that youhave gotten there, rather than
(25:42):
realizing Ephesians 2, that weare redeemed for a purpose, that
is, for a kingdom that isbigger than ours, and it's so
much bigger than whatever thenumber is on the mailbox that
you drive home to.
God gave you these desires.
Don't long to fill them withthings he would not.
Maybe you just want to belong.
(26:04):
You want a community, and whywouldn't you, all of us, were
created with this need to beincluded and valued and
meaningful.
Even God himself resides in atrinity, this community of
self-love and giving to oneanother.
But if you don't have it, you'rejust going to become a people
pleaser.
You're going to change who youare, how you act, how you talk,
(26:27):
the way you walk and what youwear, depending on the people
that you are around.
Why, when God would say don'tyou realize I'm offering you
adoption into my family?
You get to come into this placeand not have to be impressive.
The impressive thing about youis you're a hot mess.
Who's trusting me?
Or maybe it's security andpeace?
(26:47):
Maybe anxiety and struggle istrue of you, will?
I just want to be safe.
I want to be stable.
I want the chaos to die down?
Well, of course you do.
God created a world that wasperfectly put together and
ordered and he put you inside ofit, and then sin has made a
huge mess of the entire thing.
(27:09):
But if you don't trust God'stiming on longing, I can tell
you what you're going to do.
You're going to try toaccumulate money.
You're going to try toaccumulate possessions or power
so that you can convinceyourself that you're finally
secure, you finally have enough.
When the days of difficultycome, you'll numb yourself when
you get scared, through someform of addiction.
(27:31):
When anxiety and fear rear up,you'll escape, and it could be
anything from a substance to ascreen or anything in between.
You'll start trusting in apolitical ideology rather than
the King of Kings and the Lordof Lords.
And yet it's Jesus who says I'mthe good shepherd, I'll leave
(27:52):
99 to make sure that you aresecure and safe.
Longing isn't your enemy, allthese longings you have.
Whatever was written on yourpaper and whatever you would
write on it tomorrow, it is Edenechoing to you.
You were built to long, andthat was before sin came in.
You were built to long.
(28:12):
Today, you could even make theargument that longing isn't
going anywhere.
And why would we make thatargument?
Because Jesus longs.
Jesus, in Luke 22,.
He says I've been waiting tohave this Passover meal with you
(28:35):
, when I was in heaven watchingand directing the course of
nature, when my people were setfree from Egypt.
Thousands of years before thismeal takes place, the Passover
happens and Jesus looks at itand he says they don't even know
that there's going to be 12 ofus in the top of a room eating a
meal together.
They don't know that it'spointing to this.
They don't know that that ispointing to a group of people in
(28:57):
Harris County, georgia,columbus, georgia, getting
together to eat a small piece ofbread and a drink of juice,
because it points us to a familythat we never would have been
able to get ourselves into, andthat one day, that too even
points to a meal that those ofus who are believers will enjoy
in heaven, when all of thescraps of paper have been folded
(29:19):
up and tossed away.
Jesus longs, father.
I desire, I am longing for thisthat they also, whom you have
given me, may be with me where Iam to see my glory.
When Adam said finally, when helooks at Eve and he realizes
that he has what he's wanted,and he says at last, jesus is
(29:43):
saying at last.
When you close your eyes forthe last time, christian, when
you walk into eternity, jesus issaying at last.
Haven't you, my child, beenlonging for this?
Haven't you been wanting this?
Welcome to a place where all ofyour longings don't go to die,
but your longings increase as mysufficiency increases to meet
(30:07):
them.
Even in Revelation, I mean, wejust had a guy who was standing
at the door of the woman heloved.
Hey, are you going to open up,are you going to let me in?
And right now we see inRevelation 3.20,.
Jesus says Behold, I stand atthe door and knock.
This is spoken to all of us inthe room.
If you are not a believer.
Do you realize that, just asthat young lady had all of these
(30:31):
cute little excuses, her cutelittle teases, now was in a
convenient time.
I just washed my feet.
I just got this done.
Today isn't really the bestSunday for me to do work with
Jesus.
I've got some things that I'vegot to get back to.
We made lunch plans right afterI told somebody that I would
help them afterward.
Do you realize that Jesus standsat the door of your heart and
(30:52):
he's knocking and he's justsaying how long am I going to
have to do this?
How long until you open to me?
I am longing to say at last hehas come to me.
At last I will call.
And the thing is, jesus isn'tjust trying to accomplish
something, he's not just tryingto get one more name in the book
(31:14):
of heaven.
I want to be with him, I wantto eat with him, I want him to
be with me.
This is intimacy, this isknowing and being known in the
deepest, fullest ways that theperson sitting next to you can
never fulfill, or the personthat you're convinced, if there
was a person sitting next to youwould fulfill.
No, even Jesus longs for thesethings, and if his longings
(31:37):
haven't disappeared, longingshaven't disappeared Should you
expect that yours will?
Can I just be very practicalwith you?
This is why I love being apreacher.
I would have really enjoyeddoing, I think, a lot of things
in life, but the fact that Godhas given me the privilege to
tell you.
I know your wants, haven'tstopped wanting, but I can tell
(32:02):
you who gives and actuallysatisfies.
I can tell you that thatscratch of paper is going to be
written 10,000 times before someof you die, but there is
someone who you can go to andyou will just let go of it the
fount that never stops flowing,the bread that satisfies the
lamb who was slain from thebeginning of the world so that
(32:24):
you could come into a familywhere you finally feel at home.
What are you going to do withyour longings?
I'll tell you what you need todo with them.
You need to teach themsomething.
The Bible tells us all the timeto teach our feelings.
I don't know if you know thatthe Bible tells us all the time
to teach our feelings.
I don't know if you know thatMany of the Psalms are Psalms
coming and saying I feel thisway.
(32:44):
But God, but the word, but thetruth.
Can I tell you what you need toteach your longings?
You need to teach them a coupleof things.
Notice the words here.
I have learned this is notsomething that comes naturally,
in whatever situation.
I would say that's prettycomprehensive.
(33:05):
I am to be content.
You want to be content in anyand every situation.
You need to learn something.
This is not.
I miss my quiet time, darn it.
I'm just not going to becontent today.
This is not.
Oh man, I missed out on churchlast week.
I guess I'm just going tostruggle.
You can teach your soul by theword of God, through the spirit
(33:25):
of God, to be content, but youwill never be able to do it if
he isn't your fully satisfyingthing.
If this is happening and you'renot opening the door, I'm gonna
show you the promised land, butyou will only ever see it from
the other side of the window.
Draw near to him.
Why?
So that you can learn to becontent.
So that you can know how to bebrought low.
(33:47):
You can know how to abound.
I've learned the secret offacing plenty and hunger.
Did you realize that facingplenty is something you need to
know how to do?
Well as well, I know how to bein abundance.
(34:08):
I know how to be in need.
And then comes the verse thateverybody loves, including Tim
Tebow, on his eye paint I can doeverything through Christ, who
strengthens me.
This is not about runningfaster or lifting more.
This verse is saying do youwant to know that you can
actually do this?
You can trust him.
You can trust him regardless ofwhich one of these four things
(34:30):
you have been convinced will fixyour longing.
You actually can trust him.
You make known to me the pathsof life.
In your presence, there isfullness of joy.
At your right hand arepleasures.
Forevermore, I am the bread oflife.
In your presence, there isfullness of joy.
At your right hand arepleasures.
Forevermore, I am the bread oflife.
Whoever, anyone who comes to mewon't hunger and they won't
(34:52):
thirst.
Why?
He satisfies the longing soulwhich, by the way, he put there
so that you would never besatisfied until you came to
something that is all satisfying.
You want to know what aChristian does with the longings
that aren't met.
Yes, they get on their kneesand pray.
(35:13):
Yes, they weep out to the Lord.
Yes, they go into community andthey say will you enter into
this with me?
But do you want to know what amature Christian does with a
longing that won't go away?
Here's what they do.
Thank you, lord, thank you,thank you that you have built me
to want.
Thank you that nothing butChrist will satisfy.
(35:36):
Thank you that I can know youhave placed this here not as a
mistake that I am not broken.
This is not a bug, this is anintentional thing.
You have placed this here, notas a mistake.
That I am not broken.
This is not a bug, this is anintentional thing.
You have placed in me so that Iwill, day by day, thought by
thought, moment by moment, knowthere's nothing that is gonna
satisfy me but Jesus.
And when that becomes the chorusof the song of your soul, all
(35:59):
of a sudden things begin tochange.
All of a sudden you open thedoor every time Jesus knocks,
because why wouldn't you?
He is the one that fullysatisfies.
All of a sudden we get up andwe walk when we have never stood
up and walked before.
All of a sudden we tell ourlongings chill out.
The goal is not for you to befulfilled, that's one thing.
(36:19):
The goal is for me to realizeGod put something here that is
good.
What is it?
God is walking me throughsomething long.
Why is he?
And I know that one day thatlonging will be fulfilled when
it's at the right time and theright place, with the right
person, which, by the way, isthe biblical definition of
wisdom in relationships theright place, at the right time
(36:44):
with the right person.
Get any of those things off andyou will realize how difficult
and complicated relationshipscan be.
But the best of news is thisGod is always the right person,
it is always the right time tocome to him and you do not need
(37:05):
to be here to do it.
But since you're here, might weas well meet with the one who
placed longings in you and wantsyou to find their fulfillment
in him.
Let us draw near to the Lordtogether.
We respond a few ways.
(37:26):
Every Sunday.
I always tell you you can walkout in the back and just kind of
walk through and pray.
You might not want to do that,unless you have your galoshes on
, but you can just make thisspace yours and quietly pursue
the Lord Kneel.
If you need to kneel, remainseated.
If you need to sit, stand andsing with more fervor than you
have sung before to the one whofulfills every longing that he
(37:46):
has placed inside of you.
Or if you want to talk, if youhave questions, if you need to
receive prayer, if you just wantto celebrate something going on
in your life, we'll have acouple of pastors who will go
out on the back porch, but let'sdraw near to the one who never
stops knocking at the door ofour heart and says all of those
longings I put there, who areyou going to go to to find their
(38:10):
fulfillment?
I hope you will come to Christand if you need help with that,
we will help you.
Please turn in your Bibles to Song of Solomon,
chapter 3, 1 through 5, which ison page 561 in the Pew Bible,
and follow along as I read God'sWord On my bed at night.
I sought Him who my soul loves.
(00:20):
I sought Him, but found Him not.
I will rise now and go aboutthe city.
In the streets and in thesquares I will seek him, whom my
soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
The watchmen found me as theywent about in the city.
Have you seen him, whom my soulloves?
(00:41):
Scarcely had I passed them.
When I found him, whom my soulloves, I held him and would not
let him go until I had broughthim into my mother's house and
into the chamber of her whoconceived me.
I adjure you, o daughters ofJerusalem, by the gazelles or
the does of the field, that younot stir up or awaken love until
(01:05):
it pleases.
This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Amen, thanks, natalie .
All right, I've been trying togive you what I've called squirm
warnings every Sunday that wehave been in Song of Solomon.
This is a solid three out offive.
Okay, this is, by the way.
Next week is a four or a fiveout of five.
So if you've been wonderingwhen are we going to get there,
(01:29):
next week and the following weekwould be probably the weeks
that you are leaning into, andso, just so you know, I want to
make sure everybody's in theloop on that.
I also want to tell the folkswho are in the back if you are
hot because it is hot outside Iknow when you come in it's hard
to see there is like an entireopen pew here.
(01:50):
If you want to brave it, acouple of seats here there, and
then John will scoot over forone or two more, and so if you
are too hot, just know.
Yeah, way to go.
They're either leaving ormoving.
I can't tell Robbie's taking it.
All right, good stuff.
Hey, I want what's good.
I can't hear you.
(02:12):
Oh, so go longer.
All right, here we go.
I got you.
I got you.
All right, oh, okay.
Yeah, if it rains, you guysneed to bring your chairs and
bring your chairs in.
That's no problem at all.
What else, stokes, hey Stokes,make your announcement.
Carry on, here we go.
Song of songs.
(02:33):
All right, squirrel morning.
Three out of five.
Next week will probably be afour out of five.
And here's what I want you guysto know as we kind of parachute
into this the scripture that wasjust read to us.
I want you to realize there arefour scenes in this and as we
look at these four little scenes, there are a couple of
(02:53):
questions that I want you to ask.
These would be the questionsthat I would have you ask when
we read this, even though it'sin the Bible.
Is this love that we're readingabout being pursued biblically?
Is it wise?
Is it pure?
Is this the kind of love thatyou would want for your sons or
(03:15):
daughters?
Is this the kind of love thatGod wants for you?
Now, you may be saying well,this is the Bible.
Of course it is all of thosethings.
The story of David andBathsheba is also in the Bible.
So don't forget, just becauseit's in the Bible doesn't mean
God's advocating it.
He is teaching you somethingthrough it.
Now, when I look at this text, Iwould respond very differently
(03:38):
if it was my daughter who wassaying this, compared to if it
was my son.
My son came to me last nightvery late in the night.
He said hey, I wanna go hangout with a buddy.
He's 16, he's got a license.
I remember that.
So I was like, just give me a30 second download of what
you're gonna do.
He did I said may the Lord bewith you, my son, and off he
went.
If my daughter even at 16, cameto me and said that I would
(04:04):
throw a flag, I'd be like wheredo you think you're going, young
lady?
Uh-huh, and who are you goingto be with?
What time are you going?
There's just somethingdifferent about daughters.
The reason I say that is I wantyou to imagine for a moment if
you're in the room and you havehad children.
You are of parent age.
I want you to imagine this isone of your kids, sharing with
(04:26):
you what's going on in theirhearts and in their minds.
If you're a kid, I want you toimagine sharing this with your
parent.
And here's how we're going todo it Everybody, take out your
hand.
You don't need to hold it uphigh.
I'm not like shooting forconversions in this moment.
I just want it to be highenough so that the person next
to you can see what's going onon your hand.
I'm going to read this line andI want you to give it a one, two
(04:48):
, three, four or five.
It's a five if, when I readthis line, you would say, oh man
, this is biblical.
Hey, turn me up so I don't feellike I'm competing.
Are you trying to?
Okay, can y'all hear me in theback?
Do I need to sweat it?
Okay, good, all right, You'regoing to have a five.
(05:10):
If you feel like these thingsare happening, you're going to
put a one.
If you're like I do not thinkthis is good or healthy in a
biblical relationship, all right, here you go.
Verse, I love this.
By the way, these are myabsolute favorite Sundays.
Weird Sundays are my favoriteSundays.
You want to know why?
You're not going to forget it.
All right, I love this.
All right.
So here we go.
Verse number one.
She's unmarried, by the way,and here's what she says On my
(05:33):
bed by night, I sought him wholoves me.
All right, what do you think?
Is this super biblical Five?
Super not biblical One?
Just go ahead, put a number up.
Let me see where you're at.
Let me see where you're at.
Okay, then it's loud and proudon his one.
Okay, how about this?
A young lady says I will risenow and go about the city.
(05:57):
What time of day is it?
It's nighttime.
I'm going to go into thestreets and into the squares.
I'm going to seek him who mysoul loves.
One to five Is this what youwant?
Okay, lots of ones.
You guys are not a very greatpeople.
You're ones and fives, kind ofacross the board.
Where are my two, three, fourpeople?
(06:18):
All right, how about this?
The watchman found me.
These would be like the police.
Theman found me.
These would be like the police.
The police found me as theywent about the city.
And now she's asking thesestrangers, have you seen him
whom my soul loves?
Scarcely had I gotten past them.
When I found him, whom my soulloves, I held him.
I wouldn't let him go.
(06:39):
Just wait it gets better untilI brought him to my mother's
house and into the chamber thatmeans bedroom of the one who
conceived me.
Let me see your numbers.
Is anybody higher than a two?
Okay, now, explain to me this,the very next line.
(07:00):
I adjure you, o daughters ofJerusalem, I encourage you by
the gazelles or does of thefield symbols of love, that you
not stir up or awaken love untilit pleases, until the time is
right, what are you going togive that one?
Okay, how on earth, how onearth can we look at this young
(07:24):
woman who is basically sayinglet me put this sort of in
English it was nighttime.
I couldn't stop thinking aboutmy man.
He wasn't there with me andwe're not married yet, which is
why he wasn't with me.
So here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to go out in themiddle of the night.
I'm going to walk through thedowntown area looking for my guy
(07:44):
.
I'm going to ask anybody I findif they've seen him, and as
soon as I see him, I'm gettingmy claws in him.
I'm taking him home, we'regoing into my mother's bedroom
and that is how we are going tocall it a night, can I?
By the way, if you haven'tpicked up on this, this is not
prescribing what it is to pursuethe Lord biblically.
(08:05):
Can we all agree?
There's a piece of us that'slike that's not my advice to my
daughter, can we agree?
But somehow she ends it bysaying hey, guys, ladies, best
friends, don't wake up romanticlove until it's too soon.
How Well I hid something fromyou when I read this, and some
(08:26):
of you may have been reading inyour text and you may have
noticed it.
I wasn't just putting she there,so you know it was her.
I didn't want you to realizethat she's probably dreaming.
Now there are two places in theSong of Solomon where we see
something like this On my bed bynight I sought, and we see
something very similar in Songof Songs 5 when she says I slept
(08:50):
but my heart was awake.
I can't think of a better OldTestament way to say I'm
dreaming, I'm asleep, but myheart, my mind, are still
actively pursuing something.
This is how she can explain100% and the Bible can capture
all of her longing.
(09:11):
And it can end by saying guys,we want to do this right Now.
I'm not going to ask forstories and I'm not going to ask
for volunteers, but I will justtell you, as a guy who started
dating his wife when I was 17and married her when she was 23,
.
There were a lot of nights likethis, and you can get squirmy or
(09:35):
cringy in church if you want to.
I'm just explaining to you thehuman condition that I know is
true of all of us, and that isthat this stage in their
romantic love, there may bethings that they physically
cannot pursue, that their mindsare longing for.
That.
The desires, the good godlydesires that God has placed in
(09:58):
every man and every woman.
These desires exist, even if weare trying so hard to figure
out.
What can I do with thesedesires and glorify God?
How can I do this?
Let me tell you why I think thisis a dream.
I think there are a number ofreasons, but one of the reasons
(10:22):
is, just like the Bible invitedus a week or so ago to their
midday lunch, where she joinedhim at work, I think this is the
Bible saying hey, your dreamsmatter.
God knows what they are, heuses them.
I don't know that he uses allof them.
I was telling the group beforewe got ready for church today.
My dream last night.
(10:43):
My dream last night was BradEvangelista and I were trying to
find vanilla ice cream withcolored sprinkles when a
helicopter flew over and startedshooting hypodermic needles at
us to put us to sleep.
I don't know If the Lord hassomething going on in that.
I'm going to need an awful lotof clarity.
Okay, somebody.
Somebody told me I was desiringretirement and to rest.
(11:04):
That's what I was like.
That's actually pretty good.
That's not bad.
I feel like I got at leastthree more weeks in me, all
right.
When we look at this, there area number of reasons.
I think we can say this is adream.
Number one this young lady hasbeen exceedingly careful where
she goes.
She wanted to join him at worka week ago but she said I need
(11:25):
to know where you're going to be.
I want to dress appropriately.
I don't want to put out anysignals to any other men that
I'm available because I am yoursand I am yours alone.
She's been exceedingly carefulfor her all of a sudden to say
nah, I'm just going to whoa, Idon't know what just happened.
Time out, don't read mypersonal notes.
There you go.
Oh, I don't know what justhappened.
Time out, don't read mypersonal notes.
There you go.
(11:46):
I'm going to go about in thecity, or in verse 5, it even
gets worse.
He shows up.
I slept, but my heart was awake.
She's in bed.
A sound, a sound.
My beloved is knocking.
He shows up at the door.
Open to me.
My sister, my love, my dove, myperfect one.
(12:07):
Open the door.
I want to come in, I want tospend time with you.
Here is what she begins thinkingin verse three.
I'd put off my garment howcould I put it on?
She's got on her bedclothes, iswhat she say.
It goes on I'd bathe my feethow could I soil them?
Now, we don't think about lifethis way, but if you lived in an
(12:27):
Old Testament time and youfinally got your feet clean and
you got in bed, you did not wantto get up and walk through the
area, which was incrediblydisgusting and then get right
back in your bed.
So a couple of things could behappening.
She could be teasing him.
She could be saying oh, I'vejust put on my nightie, I can't
(12:48):
possibly come to the door.
Or she could be saying I justtook my bath.
It'll be a while before I canget there.
I don't want to get my feetdirty.
They're so clean right now.
Maybe she's teasing him ormaybe she's just legit tired.
She's like why did you come solate?
Right, like?
I've been here the whole time.
Where were you, my beloved?
Put his hand to the latch, thedoor stops knocking and she
(13:12):
hears the doorknob shake and herheart is thrilled within her.
So, whether she was teasing ornot, now she's starting to get
warmed up to the concept of hereis my guy.
So she gets up.
I arose to open the door to mybeloved.
My hands, though, were wet.
They were dripping withsomething.
So when she reaches the bolt,she can't get the door to open.
(13:34):
This feels like a dream.
It feels even more like a dreambecause when she finally opens
the door, the dude's gone.
All right, can I just tell you,if young ladies coming to the
door, you're not like I gotPlayStation time with the guys
Gone.
It's not how it works in therealm of humanity.
The guy is gone, it says hersoul fails.
She seeks him, but she can'tfind him.
(13:56):
She calls him, but he gives noanswer.
He was there one second ago.
She gets the door open and he'sgone.
This feels much more like adream.
The watchman found me, but thistime the cops aren't kind.
It says.
They beat me, they bruised me,they took away my veil, but
(14:16):
nowhere in this text does Goddeal with them, nowhere in this
text does her beloved deal withthem.
It feels like a dream that tooka hard right turn into
nightmare land, but she ends itthe same way.
Daughters of Jerusalem, I've gotsomething to teach you.
As she wakes up in the middleof the night realizing all of
(14:39):
these longings that she haswithin her, she still reminds
herself there's something for usto learn here, and in this case
, she reminds herself there'sonly one guy.
For her, this seems like a pairof dreams, one of the things I
think the Bible makes very clearfor us.
Parents, please listen up.
(15:00):
Even if you have been marriedfor a long time, romantic
relationships are complicated.
Amen, okay.
Romantic relationships arecomplicated.
They're complicated if you're abeliever.
They're complicated if you'renot a believer.
They're complicated if one ofyou happens to be a believer and
the other one does not.
They're complicated when you're10 years old, trying to figure
(15:22):
out who you're going to giveyour valentine to, and they're
complicated when you're 28 yearsold.
Romantic relationships arecomplicated, and the Bible knows
that there are no mistakes inthis.
So let me invite you into aquestion for the word why.
Why are romantic relationshipsso hard?
Why are they so difficult?
Why are the nuances so hard tofigure out?
(15:45):
Why can I learn so much aboutso much in this world?
But when it comes tounderstanding my wife, who I've
spent 26 years with.
At this point, I'm stillscratching my head half the time
why.
There is something tucked intothe human condition that God put
there and he left there onpurpose, and that thing that he
(16:05):
put and that thing that he leftis longing, and this is what the
scriptures want you to see.
It doesn't matter to me if youare single or married, if you
are content or discontent.
There is one thing that I knowis true of everybody in this
room you are longing forsomething and you want to tell
(16:26):
yourself that you're longing forJesus.
But if you're honest withyourself, jesus is not the only
thing that you are longing for,and you have to remind yourself
time and time again.
Heart, mind, soul, these thingsand thoughts that run through
my head.
I adjure you, o daughters ofJerusalem, go after the right
thing, go after it at the righttime, go after the right person,
(16:48):
put things in the proper order,because I have a heart that
won't stop longing.
God's word wants you to seethis.
God's word wants you to feel.
This Longing is something theBible knows is true of you,
(17:08):
because God created theselongings.
Now I want you guys to chase mefor one moment down a rabbit
hole.
It's just going to take asecond, but I think it's worth
it, and it's going to teach yousomething for the rest of your
life if you pursue Christ, ifyou're not pursuing Christ, I
think this is going to be anannoying little question.
That sort of scratches at theback of your mind.
(17:30):
Not only did God create theselongings, god created you too
long.
Now, before I go any furtherwith this, I want you to
actually answer this question.
You don't have to answer it outloud, but I want you to.
I almost cut out little slipsof paper and put them everywhere
, but I just ran out of time,too busy praying, you know
(17:50):
pastors, all right, so I wantyou to actually answer this
question.
What are you longing for today?
You do not need to have animpressive answer.
You might just be longing foran afternoon that's calm.
You might just be longing foryour roof not to be leaking
right now and you're like, oh,we've had issues.
(18:10):
You might be longing for somelevel of security.
Maybe you are longing for aromantic relationship.
Maybe you're in a relationshipthat used to be romantic and it
feels like that's long gone andyou're longing for it again.
What are you longing for today.
You will serve yourself if youanswer this.
Before we go any further, let meshow you something amazing, and
I need to give a little bit ofa trigger warning to my wife,
(18:31):
trigger warning.
When you and I got married, youwere not happy with the
ceremony.
Okay, you were not happy withthe ceremony because the pastor
went way too long and because heall of a sudden just started
talking about animals out of theblue.
We've talked about this for thepast 20 years.
Okay, hey, I'm going to try tofix it today.
(18:52):
I don't know that I can.
I'm going to try.
God created you to long.
Chase me down this rabbit hole.
When God created all things,this is before sin enters the
world.
Here is what we read the Lord,god, said it is not good that
the man should be alone.
That sentence, that littlephrase, is nuts Good, good, good
(19:13):
, good, good, good, good.
Everything in all creation.
He looks at Adam.
He says it's not good, it's notgood that you would be alone.
So I'm going to make a helperfit for him.
And everybody at the end of 18is saying awesome, god's going
to make woman.
This is going to be incredible.
Could you imagine the worldwithout them.
No, it'd be a hot mess, allright.
So here God is.
(19:34):
He's about to create woman, andAdam's heart is longing for it,
so much so that God knows it.
Now, watch what happens nextfor it.
So much so that God knows it.
Now, watch what happens next.
I'm going to make a helper fitfor him Now, out of the ground.
The Lord God had formed everybeast of the field, every, every
(19:54):
bird of the heavens, and hebrought them to the man to see
what he would call him.
Hey, uh, moses, when you puttogether the book of Moses, you
made just one quick mistake.
If you could just move 19through 20 somewhere else, the
rest of it will make sense.
Remember, adam wanted something.
So can we just get to verse 21?
So the Lord God calls a deepsleep to fall upon the man.
(20:15):
No, why does the Bible put itthis way?
Adam sees every beast of thefield.
He sees every bird of theheavens.
They're brought to him.
He has to name them.
Verse 20, the man gave names toall the livestock, to all the
birds, to every beast of thefield.
But the reason this wholelittle paragraph exists is
(20:38):
because of that word.
But God is saying I created alonging inside of him.
I created a longing inside ofyou.
Don't miss this.
Give me your eyes for a minute.
And then I made his longinglonger.
I could have immediately givenhim what he desired, but I
(20:58):
wanted him to see all of thethings that were not going to
satisfy him.
That's why 19 and 20 are there.
That's why I think he startedtalking about every animal,
because the very next thing thathappens is it says Adam
couldn't find anything suitable.
Verse 21.
So, after giving him a longingand elongating his longing for
(21:23):
something good, the Lord, god,caused a deep sleep to fall upon
the man he literally dreams, asGod makes him the woman of his
dreams, who, one chapter later,will usher in an entire
nightmare for all of humanity.
Not in my notes.
Quick little note the girl ofyour dreams will also wreck your
life, all right, the man ofyour dreams will also wreck your
(21:43):
life.
All right, the man of yourdreams will also wreck your life
because they were never meantto fulfill the entire longing.
Keep watching.
Verse 22,.
The rib the Lord took from theman, he made into a woman and he
brought her to the man.
Then the man said I know nobodylikes to be wrong in church.
Does anybody know what Adamsays when he finally sees Eve,
(22:04):
which God brings down?
You got to talk loud.
I shall call her woman.
Are you reading your Bibleright now, thomas?
Okay, say it.
Here's what he says.
Finally, finally, I've lookedacross all of creation and there
was nothing to satisfy mylonging.
(22:26):
Now, why am I asking you tochase a rabbit with me through
Genesis, chapter two?
Because I want you to have atheology of longing.
And the reason I want you tohave a theology of longing is
because it's not going anywhere.
When I finally started datingthe girl that TBS told me was
going to satisfy my life, thatFerris Bueller convinced me was
(22:48):
going to make everything fine.
As soon as that happened, doyou know what happened?
Another longing stepped rightin, and then another, and then
another, and that has been thepast 26 years of my life with my
wife.
Now you may be completelydifferent than me.
You may be far more godly andfar more holy, but I will tell
(23:09):
you this is something that Ineeded when I was eight years
old, 18 years old, 48 years oldand beyond.
God creates longings.
Whatever you wrote downsomewhere, you may have even
been honest enough to write downsomething sinful.
But underneath it, behind itand around it, there is this
thing that God created you todesire.
(23:31):
That is good, and it is notgood for you to not have it.
But Just as Adam has to watchthis entire parade of animals,
god also stretches the time oflonging.
It is not good for you to getwhat you want too quickly.
It is good for you to realizethat there is a God who knows
(23:51):
what you want, walks with youwhen you do not have what you
want, and then ultimatelyfulfills the longing.
So what are you longing for Now?
Look, I just picked fourcategories that are pretty
common across all of humanity.
My guess is, 90% of the stuffyou wrote down is going to fit
(24:12):
under one of those fourcategories, but I don't know
which one it is.
If you're looking for love andintimacy, great.
You want to be known.
You want to be desired, youwant to be cherished and
accepted.
That is good.
But if you don't recognize thatGod stretches and gives you
these longings, you're going totend to go towards casual sex.
(24:35):
You're going to lean towardspornography.
You're going to get in arelationship that is codependent
.
That's more on you taking thanis on you giving.
You're going to need constantaffirmation all the time if you
don't understand a theology oflonging.
But if you do, then what youwill realize is that Christ
offers a love that issacrificial and enduring and
(24:59):
unconditional and will outlastanyone that you will find.
The question is, when it comesto this, what are you looking
for?
Maybe yours is more aboutpurpose and meaning.
You want to have this drive todo something that matters,
something that's bigger thanyourself.
Of course you do.
God is a creator.
(25:20):
He made you in his image as onewho makes things and builds
things that last and that dothings.
But if you don't understandthis, you're going to just have
a huge pursuit of a career.
You're going to be obsessedwith success.
You're going to live forachievement or live for comfort,
to convince yourself that youhave gotten there, rather than
(25:42):
realizing Ephesians 2, that weare redeemed for a purpose, that
is, for a kingdom that isbigger than ours, and it's so
much bigger than whatever thenumber is on the mailbox that
you drive home to.
God gave you these desires.
Don't long to fill them withthings he would not.
Maybe you just want to belong.
(26:04):
You want a community, and whywouldn't you, all of us, were
created with this need to beincluded and valued and
meaningful.
Even God himself resides in atrinity, this community of
self-love and giving to oneanother.
But if you don't have it, you'rejust going to become a people
pleaser.
You're going to change who youare, how you act, how you talk,
(26:27):
the way you walk and what youwear, depending on the people
that you are around.
Why, when God would say don'tyou realize I'm offering you
adoption into my family?
You get to come into this placeand not have to be impressive.
The impressive thing about youis you're a hot mess.
Who's trusting me?
Or maybe it's security andpeace?
(26:47):
Maybe anxiety and struggle istrue of you, will?
I just want to be safe.
I want to be stable.
I want the chaos to die down?
Well, of course you do.
God created a world that wasperfectly put together and
ordered and he put you inside ofit, and then sin has made a
huge mess of the entire thing.
(27:09):
But if you don't trust God'stiming on longing, I can tell
you what you're going to do.
You're going to try toaccumulate money.
You're going to try toaccumulate possessions or power
so that you can convinceyourself that you're finally
secure, you finally have enough.
When the days of difficultycome, you'll numb yourself when
you get scared, through someform of addiction.
(27:31):
When anxiety and fear rear up,you'll escape, and it could be
anything from a substance to ascreen or anything in between.
You'll start trusting in apolitical ideology rather than
the King of Kings and the Lordof Lords.
And yet it's Jesus who says I'mthe good shepherd, I'll leave
(27:52):
99 to make sure that you aresecure and safe.
Longing isn't your enemy, allthese longings you have.
Whatever was written on yourpaper and whatever you would
write on it tomorrow, it is Edenechoing to you.
You were built to long, andthat was before sin came in.
You were built to long.
(28:12):
Today, you could even make theargument that longing isn't
going anywhere.
And why would we make thatargument?
Because Jesus longs.
Jesus, in Luke 22,.
He says I've been waiting tohave this Passover meal with you
(28:35):
, when I was in heaven watchingand directing the course of
nature, when my people were setfree from Egypt.
Thousands of years before thismeal takes place, the Passover
happens and Jesus looks at itand he says they don't even know
that there's going to be 12 ofus in the top of a room eating a
meal together.
They don't know that it'spointing to this.
They don't know that that ispointing to a group of people in
(28:57):
Harris County, georgia,columbus, georgia, getting
together to eat a small piece ofbread and a drink of juice,
because it points us to a familythat we never would have been
able to get ourselves into, andthat one day, that too even
points to a meal that those ofus who are believers will enjoy
in heaven, when all of thescraps of paper have been folded
(29:19):
up and tossed away.
Jesus longs, father.
I desire, I am longing for thisthat they also, whom you have
given me, may be with me where Iam to see my glory.
When Adam said finally, when helooks at Eve and he realizes
that he has what he's wanted,and he says at last, jesus is
(29:43):
saying at last.
When you close your eyes forthe last time, christian, when
you walk into eternity, jesus issaying at last.
Haven't you, my child, beenlonging for this?
Haven't you been wanting this?
Welcome to a place where all ofyour longings don't go to die,
but your longings increase as mysufficiency increases to meet
(30:07):
them.
Even in Revelation, I mean, wejust had a guy who was standing
at the door of the woman heloved.
Hey, are you going to open up,are you going to let me in?
And right now we see inRevelation 3.20,.
Jesus says Behold, I stand atthe door and knock.
This is spoken to all of us inthe room.
If you are not a believer.
Do you realize that, just asthat young lady had all of these
(30:31):
cute little excuses, her cutelittle teases, now was in a
convenient time.
I just washed my feet.
I just got this done.
Today isn't really the bestSunday for me to do work with
Jesus.
I've got some things that I'vegot to get back to.
We made lunch plans right afterI told somebody that I would
help them afterward.
Do you realize that Jesus standsat the door of your heart and
(30:52):
he's knocking and he's justsaying how long am I going to
have to do this?
How long until you open to me?
I am longing to say at last hehas come to me.
At last I will call.
And the thing is, jesus isn'tjust trying to accomplish
something, he's not just tryingto get one more name in the book
(31:14):
of heaven.
I want to be with him, I wantto eat with him, I want him to
be with me.
This is intimacy, this isknowing and being known in the
deepest, fullest ways that theperson sitting next to you can
never fulfill, or the personthat you're convinced, if there
was a person sitting next to youwould fulfill.
No, even Jesus longs for thesethings, and if his longings
(31:37):
haven't disappeared, longingshaven't disappeared Should you
expect that yours will?
Can I just be very practicalwith you?
This is why I love being apreacher.
I would have really enjoyeddoing, I think, a lot of things
in life, but the fact that Godhas given me the privilege to
tell you.
I know your wants, haven'tstopped wanting, but I can tell
(32:02):
you who gives and actuallysatisfies.
I can tell you that thatscratch of paper is going to be
written 10,000 times before someof you die, but there is
someone who you can go to andyou will just let go of it the
fount that never stops flowing,the bread that satisfies the
lamb who was slain from thebeginning of the world so that
(32:24):
you could come into a familywhere you finally feel at home.
What are you going to do withyour longings?
I'll tell you what you need todo with them.
You need to teach themsomething.
The Bible tells us all the timeto teach our feelings.
I don't know if you know thatthe Bible tells us all the time
to teach our feelings.
I don't know if you know thatMany of the Psalms are Psalms
coming and saying I feel thisway.
(32:44):
But God, but the word, but thetruth.
Can I tell you what you need toteach your longings?
You need to teach them a coupleof things.
Notice the words here.
I have learned this is notsomething that comes naturally,
in whatever situation.
I would say that's prettycomprehensive.
(33:05):
I am to be content.
You want to be content in anyand every situation.
You need to learn something.
This is not.
I miss my quiet time, darn it.
I'm just not going to becontent today.
This is not.
Oh man, I missed out on churchlast week.
I guess I'm just going tostruggle.
You can teach your soul by theword of God, through the spirit
(33:25):
of God, to be content, but youwill never be able to do it if
he isn't your fully satisfyingthing.
If this is happening and you'renot opening the door, I'm gonna
show you the promised land, butyou will only ever see it from
the other side of the window.
Draw near to him.
Why?
So that you can learn to becontent.
So that you can know how to bebrought low.
(33:47):
You can know how to abound.
I've learned the secret offacing plenty and hunger.
Did you realize that facingplenty is something you need to
know how to do?
Well as well, I know how to bein abundance.
(34:08):
I know how to be in need.
And then comes the verse thateverybody loves, including Tim
Tebow, on his eye paint I can doeverything through Christ, who
strengthens me.
This is not about runningfaster or lifting more.
This verse is saying do youwant to know that you can
actually do this?
You can trust him.
You can trust him regardless ofwhich one of these four things
(34:30):
you have been convinced will fixyour longing.
You actually can trust him.
You make known to me the pathsof life.
In your presence, there isfullness of joy.
At your right hand arepleasures.
Forevermore, I am the bread oflife.
In your presence, there isfullness of joy.
At your right hand arepleasures.
Forevermore, I am the bread oflife.
Whoever, anyone who comes to mewon't hunger and they won't
(34:52):
thirst.
Why?
He satisfies the longing soulwhich, by the way, he put there
so that you would never besatisfied until you came to
something that is all satisfying.
You want to know what aChristian does with the longings
that aren't met.
Yes, they get on their kneesand pray.
(35:13):
Yes, they weep out to the Lord.
Yes, they go into community andthey say will you enter into
this with me?
But do you want to know what amature Christian does with a
longing that won't go away?
Here's what they do.
Thank you, lord, thank you,thank you that you have built me
to want.
Thank you that nothing butChrist will satisfy.
(35:36):
Thank you that I can know youhave placed this here not as a
mistake that I am not broken.
This is not a bug, this is anintentional thing.
You have placed this here, notas a mistake.
That I am not broken.
This is not a bug, this is anintentional thing.
You have placed in me so that Iwill, day by day, thought by
thought, moment by moment, knowthere's nothing that is gonna
satisfy me but Jesus.
And when that becomes the chorusof the song of your soul, all
(35:59):
of a sudden things begin tochange.
All of a sudden you open thedoor every time Jesus knocks,
because why wouldn't you?
He is the one that fullysatisfies.
All of a sudden we get up andwe walk when we have never stood
up and walked before.
All of a sudden we tell ourlongings chill out.
The goal is not for you to befulfilled, that's one thing.
(36:19):
The goal is for me to realizeGod put something here that is
good.
What is it?
God is walking me throughsomething long.
Why is he?
And I know that one day thatlonging will be fulfilled when
it's at the right time and theright place, with the right
person, which, by the way, isthe biblical definition of
wisdom in relationships theright place, at the right time
(36:44):
with the right person.
Get any of those things off andyou will realize how difficult
and complicated relationshipscan be.
But the best of news is thisGod is always the right person,
it is always the right time tocome to him and you do not need
(37:05):
to be here to do it.
But since you're here, might weas well meet with the one who
placed longings in you and wantsyou to find their fulfillment
in him.
Let us draw near to the Lordtogether.
We respond a few ways.
(37:26):
Every Sunday.
I always tell you you can walkout in the back and just kind of
walk through and pray.
You might not want to do that,unless you have your galoshes on
, but you can just make thisspace yours and quietly pursue
the Lord Kneel.
If you need to kneel, remainseated.
If you need to sit, stand andsing with more fervor than you
have sung before to the one whofulfills every longing that he
(37:46):
has placed inside of you.
Or if you want to talk, if youhave questions, if you need to
receive prayer, if you just wantto celebrate something going on
in your life, we'll have acouple of pastors who will go
out on the back porch, but let'sdraw near to the one who never
stops knocking at the door ofour heart and says all of those
longings I put there, who areyou going to go to to find their
(38:10):
fulfillment?
I hope you will come to Christand if you need help with that,
we will help you.
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